It's a sad occasion, that nobody wanted, but it's still interesting that Fox won the day on coverage of the Fort Hood tragedy. Less than five months ago, during the last event that scrambled coverage, the death of Michael Jackson, CNN emerged from the depths to win the day. But since then, CNN has sunk into fourth place; now, as David Zurawik notes in the Baltimore Sun, Fox "swamped" the competition for Fort Hood coverage, drawing nearly twice as many viewers as CNN. (MSNBC and HLN were way back in the pack.)
Which is to say, the last shred of an argument that CNN had going for it--that it was still the "news network of record" for big events--has now disappeared.
The lead anchor for Fox, of course, was Shepard Smith, who is emerging as a newsman's newsman. He has the right tone and demeanor for all occasions, including the most serious and sad of occasions.
